“My children will not burry their Uncle!” The line my Mom used talking to her brother who was struggling with drug addiction. I didn’t get to meet my Uncle Vinny when I was born. I was the first child born in the family so you would think it would be an exciting time. However, my Mom had been dealing with her older brother’s drug addiction for the last 3 years. She set boundaries when it came to protecting me. She did not want me loving my Uncle, him not cleaning up his act and then having to say goodbye to him. So when I was born she told him to clean up or not come around. My Uncle felt that meeting me was worth a shot. He said it was not easy and there were a lot of hard days but I was his inspiration. My mom gave him a picture of me to have in his room at the rehab facility and half way house. When it was hard, he would look at my picture. I was there to celebrate his one year clean. And to this day, every year we are together to celebrate. I am so fortunate that I have a really special relationship with my Uncle. He always tells me, I’m the reason he is clean today! I will say this, hearing the stories of how bad his addiction was, which all started with falling at work and getting pain meds to help, I will not touch any pain killers or even try any type of drug. Knowing what it can do to you, it’s not worth it in my eyes. I won’t even date a girl who does any type of drugs or even smokes. I play football, baseball and track for my HS and I see so many kids making bad choices. I refuse to be one of them. My future is bright! I will be playing football in college and to me, I would never risk my future for drugs. I want to make a difference in this world. My Uncle has taught me a lot about the challenges he has faced. I am part of a group at Raritan called Hero’s and Cool kids where we go to the local elementary schools and teach kids about how doing drugs is not cool. It important to get the message out there while they are young. The college I am going to attend does a similar program that I will be joining because the message is so important. I hope you consider me for this scholarship because I will make you proud. I promise to represent your family and those who this in honor of.